The Charleston RiverDogs will induct two new members of the Military Hall of Honor on Wednesday night, part of the second Boeing Military Appreciation night of 2025: Captain Ron Plunkett, retired, United States Army and Sergeant Roy “JR” Brown, retired, United States Marine Corps.
Brown and Plunkett will be inducted in an on-field ceremony prior to the RiverDogs’ 7:05 p.m. first pitch with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park.
The Hall of Honor was developed in 2020 to be an ongoing and permanent recognition of some of the Lowcountry’s most outstanding servicemen and women in front of a full ballpark of appreciative community members. Earlier this season, Chaplain (Brigadier General) John Painter and Colonel Michael Freeman (retired) were inducted.
Ron Plunkett
A native of Atlanta, Ga., Plunkett received his Bachelor’s degree from The Citadel in 1964 and a Master’s degree in 1996. As a Citadel student, Plunkett was initiated into Phi Alpha Theta (History), Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science), and Sigma Tau Delta (English), and is believed to be the only Citadel graduate to be elected to all three honor societies as a student.
Plunkett began his military career upon graduation as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army and served in Korea and Vietnam, among other assignments, from 1964 to 1968, attaining the rank of Captain in 1967. He was also a member of the United States Army Active Reserve from 1968 until 1972.
He then worked in the private sector for Sea-Land Service, Inc. for more than 40 years, before retiring in 2009 as a Senior Account Executive.
He is a member of numerous civic, professional, and fraternal organizations in the Charleston area. He is a recipient of The Citadel’s Palmetto Medal, the Order of the Palmetto from the State of SC, the Silver Beaver Award from Scouting USA, the Knight Commander’s Accolade from the Kappa Alpha Order, and volunteers as Chief of Staff to Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston, MOH, USMC, ret. He serves on the Advisory Board of The Salvation Army, The Citadel’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and is the Charleston Regional Coordinator of the Saint John Volunteer Corps, the service-to-veterans branch of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. Ron is married to Dr. Linda Muckenfuss Plunkett, who was a Professor of Accounting at the College of Charleston for many years, who has also served our community in many ways.
Roy Brown
Two months after 9/11, Brown shipped out to Parris Island for boot camp, as his grandfather and uncle had before him. In 2002, he was one of two Marines selected from his Military Police class to attend the Military Working Dog Canine Handlers, where his love for dogs was born. The next year, he deployed to the U.S Southern Border and again the following year to Iraq. With the help of his Military Working Dog, Benny, they found numerous IEDs, VBIEDs, suicide vests and weapons caches.
After completing his enlistment in 2005, he redeployed to Iraq, as a Department of State contractor, protecting U.S. diplomats, until he was injured in a training accident in late 2007, which prevented him from future deployments. He then attended Syracuse’s Whitman School of Business and interned with Congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle of New York, where he developed a passion for giving back to the veteran community.
Brown then began training service dogs for veterans, in partnership with Labs for Liberty in Utah, and finally, in 2019, Brown and his wife, Stephanie, founded Operation Patriots FOB (OPFOB), an outdoor retreat for veterans and first responders in Okatie, which helps our nation’s heroes find their purpose beyond the call of duty.
Brown and his wife, Stephanie, have two daughters, and through OPFOB, they’ve helped countless veterans heal, connect, and overcome challenges together.
Wednesday’s Boeing Military Appreciation night is the second of three Military Appreciation games this season at Riley Park. Tickets are available at RiverDogs.com.